It is known to use in conveyor belts reinforcing fabrics in which the warp wires or cords are disposed lengthwise of the belt so providing the required longitudinal strength, whereas the weft wires or cords provide the belt with adapted transverse stiffness while increasing its impact resistance and resistance against lengthwise cracks.
In use it often occurs that relatively heavy pieces of material are cast onto the belt so that it must possess a substantial resistance against impact loading. It may also occur that pieces with sharp edges or corners get stuck between the belt surface and the driving elements or the frame of the conveyor. Such sharp edges or corners may produce incisions extending lengthwise of the progressing belt. In the worst case, the incision or crack may extend crosswise through the conveyor belt thickness so damaging the latter irrepairably and rendering it useless. To prevent this, it was already proposed in the past to introduce transverse cords in the reinforcing structure which prevent local damage from propagating into longitudinal cracks.
In order to retain optimal flexibility of the conveyor belt, so that it can move around guiding wheels with relatively small diameters, preferably no more than one reinforcing structure will be applied and its thickness will be kept small. In a reinforcing fabric, as described in the European Pat. No. 2299 in name of Applicant, which contains substantially straight weft cords, the thickness of the fabric will be almost equal to the thickness of this weft cord plus twice the thickness of the warp cords extending crosswisely over them. The amount of rubber required to fill the reinforcing zone in the belt between the cords of the fabric is therefore quite large.